Scars
by jazzpha
Summary: SPOILERS for The Force Awakens. Set post-film. Summary left vague so my friends who haven't seen the film yet don't murder me. One-shot.


**Scars**

* * *

The light in the room was almost blinding, made worse by the fact that right now, Finn felt like he hadn't seen any in over a year. That, and his eyes were far from the only part of his body that hurt.

A weak groan escaped his lips, and a moment later a dark, blurry figure moved in between him and the light.

"You're awake? How're you feeling?"

"… Where?"

"That's not… oh, right," the unknown voice said, the shape of its owner becoming clearer and clearer as Finn's eyes blinked and adjusted. "You're in the medical wing of the Resistance base, sir. Here, drink this."

Finn said nothing, drinking the water out of the cup that was pressed gently to his lips.

"You've been out for a while," the medical official continued, checking the instrument read-outs by Finn's bedside while her patient continued to drink. "Rey brought you back from Starkiller Base about two weeks ago. She told us what you did, sir, going up against Kylo Ren. That couldn't have been easy."

The mentions of Rey, Kylo Ren and Starkiller Base smashed the haze in Finn's mind to pieces, and suddenly his back burned with pain as he remembered the last wound Ren had given to him in their fight, before he'd blacked out. The cup of water in his hand shook as he spasmed, spilling a quarter of its contents on his plain shirt.

"Ugh."

"Easy, easy," the doctor said, softly but intently as she moved back over to his side and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Breathe, sir. Breathe. Don't focus on the pain. Focus past it."

It was a few long moments before Finn had regained his mental balance, recalling the combat training the First Order had drilled deep into his head.

"Rey," he said at last, after catching his breath and taking another long sip of water. "Where's Rey?"

"She left to go find Luke Skywalker," the doctor answered, tapping on a few buttons next to a screen and nodding in satisfaction at the results. "It looks like your plates are settling in just fine, sir. Give it another few days and you should be back in fine form."

"Wait… what?" Finn forced out, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "Luke Skywalker? Why would Rey need to find him? And what did you say about plates?"

"Rey finished your fight against Kylo Ren," the doctor explained. "By using the Force. Looks like she's a Jedi—or could be, if Luke trains her."

 _"How did you escape?"_

" _I don't really know… and you wouldn't believe me if I told you."_

Rey's words to him on Starkiller Base came back to Finn, and he sighed.

"A Jedi, huh? Figures. Guess I won't be seeing her for a while, then."

"I don't know that, sir," the doctor said, giving Finn a sympathetic frown. "She did tell us to give you her best when you woke up, though."

Finn flashed a weak smile, his spirits lifting slightly, before going back to finishing up his water. He shifted slightly in his bed, and a strange sensation along his spine made him stop cold.

"Wait," he said slowly, "what did you say earlier, about 'plates'?"

"Kylo Ren did some serious damage to your back during your fight," the doctor said. "severed some of the nerves in your vertebrae, broke some of the bones. We stitched up the damage as best we could without deep surgery, but we had to go in and reinforce your spine or you probably never would have walked again."

Finn said nothing at first as the report settled over him, settling back against his pillow with another resigned sigh.

"But I'll be okay," he said a few moments later, looking over at the doctor. "Right?"

"Like I said earlier, it'll take some time and rehabilitation, but you should get all your function back eventually, yes."

"Eventually," Finn repeated, but there was no bitterness in the word. "That's better than never, I guess. Thanks, doc."

"Just doing my job, sir," she replied, "but you're welcome."

"So, we did it then," Finn said, breaking the silence while the doctor refilled his cup of water. "We won."

"Captain Dameron and his squad destroyed Starkiller Base, yes," the doctor said. "We had to relocate the Resistance Base out of the Ileenium system, but other than that it was a solid victory."

Finn smiled, glad to hear some unqualified good news.

"He's awake?" a voice drifted in from outside the room, one that made Finn's smile grow even wider. "Why didn't you come and tell me?"

"Well, sir, it _was_ five minutes ago…"

"Whatever, it's fine," the voice said, growing louder as it got closer, until Poe Dameron appeared in the doorway of the room.

"Hey, Poe," Finn greeted, sitting up as far as he could. "Good to see you."

"That's my line, buddy," Poe said, flashing a grin of his own as BB-8 chirped happily by his side. "Glad you're up and at 'em. We have a lot of work to do, when you're ready for it."

"Well, I'm up at least," Finn said. "Don't know about the 'at 'em', yet."

"Give it time," Poe replied, taking a seat by a chair next to Finn. "It's gonna be a while yet before the First Order figures out where we've relocated, and they've gotta lick their wounds for a bit besides. Losing Starkiller Base should set them back for a while. It's just too bad Snoke wasn't on that planet when it blew. You know where he is?"

Finn shook his head.

"That's so compartmentalized I wouldn't be surprised if only Hux, Ren and Snoke's elite guard knew where to find him. No way the Supreme Leader would let the rank-and-file get that information. Too vulnerable to leaks, obviously."

"Thought so, but I had to ask," Poe said. "We'll get him soon enough, though. Once Rey finishes training with Skywalker, it'll just be a matter of time before we start gunning for the First Order in a big way."

"I hope so, Poe," Finn said, his eyes growing distant. "I just want to be able to stop looking over my shoulder, y'know?"

"Yeah," Poe answered. "But if you want to stop doing that, you can start right now. As far as I'm concerned, my friend, you're a member of the Resistance. Officially, this time," he added with a chuckle, and BB-8 chorused his agreement.

Finn chuckled in kind, ignoring the short spike of pain in his back.

"Thanks," he said. "That means a lot."

The friends sat in silence for a time, until Finn broke it with a question.

"Hey, Poe. What's your story?"

"You mean the First Order didn't tell you?"

"Oh, they did, sure. Multiple times a week. But I'm guessing most of it was a lie."

"Well, most of it isn't glamorous, and it's a long one."

Finn smiled.

"We have nothing but time."

Poe nodded.

"Fair. Well, a while back, I was running blockades to get supplies to worlds left behind by the Empire after they split, and I ran into this tough old smuggler named Han Solo…"

* * *

…

…

 **A/N:** _The Force Awakens_ was awesome, and it was inevitable that plot ideas would start floating around in my head. This was one of the first ones. I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!


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